It is, as you suspected, mainly a status thing. I don't think increasing their own survivability really enters into it, other than the idea that the "stronger you are in the truth" the more likely you are to survive.
Every now and then you will run across a genuine "servant" who really, really wants to be self-sacrificing and help others, and is doing it because it is altruistic. This species of JW is very rare. Probably about as rare as the equivalent secular politician.
And yes, labelling it "priveleges" is clearly newspeak. It's one of those stop-words that ends discussion and rational thought.
under_believer
JoinedPosts by under_believer
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19
"Privileges"
by Joe Grundy inyet another question (two actually), i'm afraid (but i am learning from all this, honestly!)..
i've seen the term 'privileges' on here many times, and i think i now understand that it means 'being allowed to carry out tasks in the congregation' - which includes walking round with the microphone, operating the pa system, etc.
in the services.
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under_believer
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Why did God create mosquitoes?
by JH in.
i tried to finish mowing the lawn this morning and just couldn't.. there were about 775 mosquitoes around me .
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under_believer
Because he's a dick? I dunno.
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The last cry for help as faith burns out
by Qcmbr inmany here have lost once bedrock faith via various means.
like a sun burning up all its fuel i find some people experience a last explosive attempt to retain faith before finally walking away spent and unfulfilled.
did you have a moment when you gambled all on a last attempt to get god's attention and answer all those inexorable doubts?
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under_believer
I once tried #1. Actually many #1's, for months--Jehovah can you hear me? Jehovah I need a sign. Jehovah I want it all to be true. Jehovah, I study all the time now, I pray all the time now, I read the Bible all the time now. I am doing what you have asked. Please give me the understanding. I have faith. Help me out where I need faith. Many fruitless tears were shed during these sessions... sessions which now just appear pathetic and ridiculous.
Man, that was totally fruitless. I decided at that point that either Jehovah didn't care about ANYONE; or he didn't care about me personally, and that I must be totally unredeemable.
I coasted along for a couple of years after that.
For the last few months I've been doing #4--I registered to vote, and I have made an appointment to give blood. I post on JWD now and doubtless I will give my true identity away on here through some slip of the fingers, at some point. None of this is public, yet, though I imagine I can't keep any of it secret forever.
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Job Performance Appraisal...were you torn?
by schne_belly ini was in the first part of june 2003 that i began having serious doubts about the jw's.
at work we are given yearly performance appraisals.
i had just had my review.
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under_believer
I have experienced a similar disconnect.
At work, I'm a highly paid, well-respected, competent professional. My opinion is sought on various issues. I am in charge of other people and responsible for their work. I have a reputation as a troubleshooter and a fixer.
At the Kingdom Hall, I am barely acknowledged. Even though I have very good public speaking and public reading abilities, even though I have a proven track record of responsibly handling tasks, even though I have a lot of practical business and administrative experience, even though I'm a good researcher, they ignore me. They do this because I don't go out in service anymore, not being willing to stoop to hypocrisy attempting to publish a message I no longer believe in.
Would I WANT all those "theocratic priveleges of service?" Actually, no. No I wouldn't. However, the disconnect is dramatic. The only time any of those elders wants my help or calls me on the phone is when one of their computers breaks and they want free help to fix it. -
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This is it; I'm done!!
by WingCommander inyes, you heard me correctly.
i was born in jw land.
i didnt do the fade i didnt have to.
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under_believer
FleshyBirdFodder, you can view it at Google Video.
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108
Does the Rainbow Covenant Disprove the Flood?
by Severus inthe story goes that god provided the rainbow as a symbol of his promise to never again destroy the world by flood.. noah and his family saw the rainbow after they left the ark.
after the waters had receeded.
after it had stopped raining for months.... yet a rainbow is simply sunlight spread out into its spectrum of colors and diverted to the eye of the observer by water droplets.
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under_believer
Hey Shazard, don't get me wrong, here, I'm not attacking you, but why in the hell are you talking about lizards?
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When you were a JW true believer, what were you most afraid of?
by under_believer init's been pretty well established that all religions use fear as a motivator, to some degree.
the jw's have honed this practice to a near art form.
what were you most afraid of when you were a jw?
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under_believer
I definitely also had that vibe of never being able to be good enough, being flawed somehow, and getting DF'ed and destroyed at Armageddon. I was also terrified that my children would be tortured in front of me during the Great Tribulation and I'd cave in and "sign the document denying Jehovah," (there's always a document they want you to sign in these delusions) and then my family and I would all be destroyed at Armageddon.
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When you were a JW true believer, what were you most afraid of?
by under_believer init's been pretty well established that all religions use fear as a motivator, to some degree.
the jw's have honed this practice to a near art form.
what were you most afraid of when you were a jw?
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under_believer
It's been pretty well established that all religions use fear as a motivator, to some degree. The JW's have honed this practice to a near art form. What were you MOST afraid of when you were a JW?
- Demons
- Dying at Armageddon
- Living Through Armageddon
- "Worldly" People
- Homosexuals
- Doctors
- Sickness/Death
- Famine
- War
- Being Mugged (favorite Society artwork to this day: guy with mustache in stocking cap holds knife to throat of terrified bespectacled octogenarian)
- Being Disfellowshipped
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Another @$#%^! witness song stuck in my head!
by nsrn ini have "forward you witnesses" playing over and over and over and over and over in my head today.
i am trying to sing something else but it keeps cropping up...surely there is a pill for this!
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under_believer
Like BEEEES that WERRRRRRE... MO-LES-TED
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No Absolute Truth
by Shining One inthis one is for the politically correct crowd: .
is there no 'absolute truth'?
do you want to live that one out?
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under_believer
Ah yes, the old "morals cannot exist without religion" argument. Every once in a while you'll hear this, usually from sociopaths that really wouldn't have any morals if not for the fear that God will burn them in hell if they're not good.
The thing is... look around. There are lots of people without religion, and yet they aren't all humping sheep, and eating babies, and sleeping in beds crafted from their own feces. They aren't running around all depraved like those bio-zombies in "28 Days Later."
In fact many of them are highly productive members of society--the entire humanism movement, which is utterly devoted to the idea that every human deserves dignity (a highly moral position, but not one that many religions share) is founded in and rose from irreligion.
I always get really sad when I find someone who says that without God in their life, they'd be raving madmen. It makes me lose a little faith in my fellow humans every time.